Eden Prime - Prothean Beacon Dig site
It wasn't long until the group discovered the purpose of the spikes, along with what seemed to be a horde of the creatures they created. Whatever these people were when they were impaled by the spikes had long been transformed away. Where there had once been skin, a layer of wires now covered their bodies save for the patches of skin where piercing blue lights seemed to pulse. No shred of humanity remained in these, for lack of a better word, husks. Devoid of intelligence and sense, these creatures had risen from the now retracted spike and charged towards the squad.
The husks had proven easy to defeat. The only threat they could pose would be an overwhelming force but with the squad making quick work of any of the transformed humans that they came across, the likelihood of being overwhelmed was a thin possibility at best. The group had made good progress towards the docks and both Williams and Jenkins felt better when they'd managed to liberate two trapped Doctors, one of which had been the head of the excavation. While they hadn't learned anything new about the importance of the beacon, they had at least discovered that the beacon was taken to the spaceport on the edge of the city, waiting to be transferred to the Normandy. While moving on from the pair, Shepard contacted Nihlus to fill him in on what they'd just uncovered.
"Nihlus, we know where the beacon was taken. The scientists moved the beacon to the spaceport in preparation for the Normandy's pickup. I think it's safe to assume the Geth know that by now and are headed there to secure it themselves."
"Agreed, Commander. I'm on the hill above the docks, I'll scout around and see if they left any survivors. I'll rendezvous with you here, there looks to be one more transport docked. Nihlus out."
The same good spirits from helping the doctors had turned sour when Chief Williams found farmers aiding dockworkers smuggle armaments from marine shipments. Williams had seen friends die today and if these people had taken more than a couple of sidearms and mods, a few more soldiers might have survived. The name they'd given was familiar to the Chief, the man called Powell had a reputation as something of a local troublemaker.
Why is it that good people always get screwed over by the assholes of society? My Grandfather, my Dad, my Squad... All screwed over yet somehow the ones doing the screwing never get what they deserve. If Powell's alive, I'm going to shoot him. He just about put a gun to the head of my men anyway. Ashley could barely contain her building rage. She'd trade even one of her fallen squadmates for all of these selfish, lowlife scum. It's not fair that you live while good marines died today.
Jenkins was torn. His parents worked on the docks nearby and knowing the Geth passed through there he knew they were probably dead. He just hoped his sisters had survived the attack but the other half hated these people for damning the people trying to save their lives. He could see the fury in Ashley's eyes and felt comforted by it. At least I'm not the only one feels this way, I know Shepard has to keep a clear mind but how can Alenko not feel anything? Lieutenant Alenko had kept a neutral expression during the entire interaction.
The arguments between the Chief and the farmers was cut short by the mournful echo of a single gunshot. It hadn't been a Geth weapon, the sound had been explosive compared to the light plinking of Geth rifles.
"Enough, all of you. There may be some patrol units left so stay inside, keep an eye out but most importantly, don't attract attention." ordered Shepard. She could understand Ashley's frustrations but a few sidearms weren't going to turn the battle. This had been a slaughter from the start with the Geth having superior numbers and firepower. She needed to know what, or perhaps more importantly who, fired that shot.
"Alenko, I want a barrier on me from this point forward. I'm not sure what fired that gun but I'm going to assume it's not friendly until proven otherwise. Let's move out, we're close to the docks."
Eden Prime Docks - Five Minutes Before
Nihlus had finished his sweep of the area and found nothing but smouldering corpses and the fiery remnants of explosions. He'd noted that this was likely where the marines had held a position, the fires likely from the rockets the Geth appeared to be fond of using. He'd heard tales of the Geth being clinically merciless, but no one believed those stories. No one had seen the Geth outside of the Perseus Veil for almost two hundred years. He could understand why they wouldn't take any prisoners, the Geth likely couldn't facilitate captives on their ships, so why waste time capturing live organics but still... the level destruction on this scale was unnerving. The Council were going to love his report.
Broken from his musings by the sound of buildings collapsing, he noticed a figure coming closer to him. It's not a Geth, but no Human would be so confident as to just walk without looking at their surroundings. There were Asari and Salarian researchers here at the ruins but no Turians. No, it can't be him... "Saren?"
The figure took a few more steps before stopping to look directly at his colleague "Nihlus, what a surprise to see you here. I thought that ship and that Human you were sent to asses were still back on Arcturus?."
The great Saren Arterius might have recruited Nihlus into the Spectres but over recent years the veteran Spectre had grown colder to his friends, colleagues and even to the Council. Saren was part of the old guard on the topic of humanity, he supported the notion that Earth should have been bombed when the Humans had tried to activate a dormant relay, sparking the Relay Three-One-Four Incident. But worse was the distance that formed between the two of them. For several years after Nihlus' induction into the Spectres the two had been as close as brothers, each one looking out for the other but now the figure that stood before Nihlus looked as much a machine as he did a Turian.
"No, we left early. Both myself and Anderson felt that the communication that was intercepted could cause a problem and it seems we were right," Nihlus paused to think before continuing "Not that I'm going to turn down help against the Geth, Saren, but why are you here?"
"The Council feared that complications might arise. Sparatus mentioned that Valern had become paranoid and convinced Tevos to send another Spectre to ensure the safe arrival of the beacon. I had come back to the Citadel to deal with some personal matters and the Council sent me," Saren struggled to continue his line of thought, wrestling with the intruding thoughts in his mind "Given that the last time that Anderson was involved in a Spectre operation, the Council uncovered Humanity working on AI's, they were concerned that they might have tried to use the beacon themselves."
Saren began pacing, looking around for survivors. He hadn't expected anyone to be here but he had to convince Nihlus that he was telling the truth. Knowing full well that his appearance wasn't expected and that the Council would've told Nihlus that they were sending additional Spectres, Saren had to put on a convincing show, even going so far as to check the bodies for life. Seeing that Nihlus had eased his stance, he knew he'd done succeeded in his ploy.
{Kill him, Herald}
No! Nihlus is a friend and a useful asset, we could use him.
{Kill him, he knows too much. The Council must not know what has transpired here, we require your authority. They will take it away.}
NO! Let me... Let me convince him to come with us...
{We have what we require. Your access to the Core and the Elder's influence. This fleshling poses a risk. DISPOSE OF HIM!}
The final thought sent a pulse of agony through his body. The augments he had been forced to endure hid his flinching movements well enough from Nihlus' watchful gaze that he didn't draw any attention.
"Saren, this looks bad. Why are the Geth here? They haven't been seen outside of the Veil in centuries and they attack right now? How did the Geth even find out about the beacon?" Nihlus began his customary back and forth between Saren, something they'd done for as long as he'd been a Spectre; one would ask, the other would answer until the situation made sense.
"Maybe it's not a beacon, maybe the Geth are looking for technology to integrate into their systems. Whatever the reason for the Geth being here, we need to secure the beacon before they can. Are there others on their way?" Saren had slowly moved around Nihlus, angling to position behind him.
"Commander Shepard has a squad nearby. We should wait for them Saren. This isn't good and I don't know how many more Geth platforms are at the spaceport. I know you don't like Humans but the Commander is a considerable warrior, her aid would turn the engagement in our favour."
I'm sorry, my friend. May the Spirits watch over you and forgive me. I do what I must for our people. "Don't worry Nihlus, everything is under control." All Saren could do was hope Nihlus didn't decide to turn around. He could handle the anger and rage that would come but the betrayal he would see in his friend's eyes would break him and he needed all the resolve he could muster for the tasks ahead. Saren raised his sidearm and took aim at the back of Nihlus' skull and fired a single shot. Nihlus' corpse crumpled to the floor, the once great Turian yet another casualty in the coming war.
{His sacrifice will ensure the survival of your species, Herald. Now find the beacon. Time grows short.} Saren growled at the flash of pain he suffered every time the voice spoke to him yet he couldn't wait around for the pain to subside. Nihlus had said that Shepard and her squad were coming and another Turian Spectre standing over his corpse would arouse suspicion.
Ever since they'd heard the single shot the squad had double timed it to the docks, hoping to find either the shooter before they'd managed to escape. Shepard just hoped they'd see who had fired the shot and failing that at least see where they were headed. Fifty meters out the squad slowed to a crawl to scan the environment as they approached, all of them knew that the gunman could still be in the area. Jenkins was the first to notice a corpse with fresh blood seeping out and motioned in that direction. With all four of them inching in the direction of the now obvious Turian body, the squad simultaneously trained their guns in the direction of the scuffling noise coming from inside a nearby crates.
"Don't shoot! Please!" begged the ragged looking man "I work here, I heard what happened."
"You might not want to startle a marine squad next time. Who are you, what did you see?" inquired Shepard.
"I'm a dock worker, a group of us hid when that ship landed," the dock worker pointed in the direction of the immense bulk of the abstract ship "The others thought that they could make it to the marsh and hide there. I don't know if they made it, I didn't want to risk it so I hid inside the container."
The man looked nervous and jumpy, the attack had rattled him but his reactions became even more visceral when his gaze turned towards Chief Williams. He's hiding something thought Shepard, either he knew who Williams was or feared her reaction for something he'd done. The Chief had picked up on his uncertainty and leapt at him, grabbing his collar and slamming him against a crate.
"Do you know a man named Powell?" snarled the Chief
"I'm... My name's Powell. What's it to you?"
That was the man's first mistake. Williams grabber her sidearm and pistol-whipped the man, earning herself a strangled cry of pain. "You greedy bastard. You might as well have killed the marines yourself." Williams smashed the bridge of the man's nose with the butt of her pistol.
While she could understand the Chief's anger at the man, this wasn't how an interrogation was performed, at least not on petty criminals. "That's enough, Chief. You've made your point." The two women glared at each other, neither willing to back down.
Alenko feared what was about to happen next. Williams had started to lose control and Shepard wouldn't allow a loose cannon to jeopardise the mission. He decided to move between the two and try to ease the situation at the same time the battered man cradling his broken nose contributed to the conversation again.
"The one who shot the Turian over there was a friend of his, another Turian named Saren." The two women broke their battle of wills and turned their gaze towards the man. "The other Turian seemed surprised to see him here, said he expected him to still be on Arcturus Station. You crazy bitch, you broke my nose."
"Be thankful that's all I've broken so far, what else? How do you know he was a Turian?"
"They all sound the same, don't they? The other said he was sent by the Council, something about fearing that Humans would try to use the beacon for themselves and him being sent to support the dead one. Then they started talking about where the Geth went. Do you have any medi-gel? I'm starting to get a little dizzy." Shepard moved to administer a small dose to stem the bleeding, she knew he deserved the broken nose but he couldn't give them any information if he passed out.
"At least the bleeding stopped. The other asked if anyone else was coming and the dead guy said someone called Commander Shepard was bringing a squad, guess that's you, and that they should wait to go after the Geth. Then that Saren guy told him that it was all under control and shot him. Strange part was when he started to growl like he'd been hit by something, maybe he actually liked the guy."
This had gone terribly so quickly. Well I guess that's it for me being a Spectre, suppose it's karma for Torfan. Despite the setback Nihlus' death had caused, her squad still had their mission. "Okay, we're taking a transport to the spaceport. We can recover Nihlus' body once we've finished our mission but we've still got a beacon to recover and a Geth force to stop. Move out."
Eden Prime Spaceport, Storage Floor
Death. Destruction. Machines. Eradication. Warning. Secret. Hidden.
Saren had activated the beacon and read the message left dormant by the ancient Protheans. This is what I had to see? What does it mean? All I saw was a series of images that held no instructions.
{Return, Herald. You have much to do. Order the other machines to destroy the beacon and leave this planet, you have what we required}. Saren could only feel relief when the voice invading his thoughts left his mind, and hadn't caused the usual spike of pain. And at least this time the beacon he'd been told to view didn't cause him to blackout. Did the beacon cause the voice or was I sent by it? It feels so long ago now. After pushing aside his thoughts he moved to the nearest Geth platform to issue the commands that he in turn had been entrusted with.
"Place the bombs around the site, simulate a Human terrorist attack. Forces are already on their way to disrupt us. Neutralise them and hold position until further orders." commanded Saren. The platform merely blinked it's optical lens in acknowledgement at the Turian and headed in the direction of the stockpile they had brought with them.
Saren had come to appreciate working alongside the Geth, it was far more efficient to distribute orders to a large force which shared its intelligence. And better still was their unquestioning loyalty to him, far more loyalty the Council had ever had for him or even the Turian military. The only downside to the bombs the Geth had procured was the range of the blast. With no major threat to their software, the Geth would endlessly throw their physical platforms at an objective and as a result had little concern about the consequences. The Geth began to place bombs which would level the spaceport and half of the nearby city and while Saren felt relatively safe on his ship he didn't want to risk anything.
Hopping onto his transport, Saren flew off to his ship leaving the Geth to their work. A few minutes passed and the massive space ship began to ascend to the skies. Unfortunately for Saren, Commander Shepard had arrived around the time the ship hit Eden Prime's atmosphere. No one had warned them about the sound it would make, some sort of low pitch, metallic screech.
Eden Prime Spaceport, Transport Hub
"That thing is far more intimidating when you're close to it. What the hell is that, some sort of Dreadnought?" shouted Jenkins in a poor attempt to make himself heard over the soul chilling roar.
"I don't know Jenkins but I just hope the Normandy stays clear of it. Looks like it could take out an Alliance Dreadnought easy enough never mind a Frigate." Shepard replied, having only a fraction better luck than Jenkins.
As the transport came to a halt, the sound had become tolerable and orders could be given. Singling out the Geth platforms crouching over devices, the group carved a path directly into the heart of the spaceport.
"Chief, cover our flank and move up with Alenko. Alenko, form barriers on yourself and the Chief and Jenkins provide suppressive fire. MOVE IT!" bellowed Shepard. "We can't let the Geth destroy this place or let them take the beacon!"
Convinced that the squad would be able to handle her orders, Shepard broke away and drew fire from the group long enough for Alenko to pull two Geth into a third and bring them down in a crumpled heap. Not content with leaving the Geth in a pile Shepard unleashed a nova blast, causing the collective Geth to explode in every direction.
Both Kaidan and Ashley faltered for a second after witnessing such an unprecedented act of biotic destruction. Ashley had only seen a few Asari use biotics and even then in a utilitarian way, mostly lifting something that couldn't carry physically or specifically in the case of the Asari who worked on the archaeological dig, lifting slabs to save time. What Shepard was doing seem unreal to the soldier. Alenko putting up a barrier which could absorb shots made sense, it was like traditional shielding technology which could absorb the kinetic energy of a bullet, reducing the impact on armour. Should could understand pulling enemies around the battlefield, it was a more practical battlefield form of what she'd seen Asari doing but causing a biotic explosion by slamming her fists into the ground? What the hell is she? No wonder she could do what she's done, I've never seen anything like this...
Alenko was handling Shepard's antics a little easier, given that he'd seen her charge through rocks to save Jenkins previously but that still didn't prepare him for the onslaught Shepard had in store for the Geth. She makes biotics look easy while I'm still using basics I learned at camp. Maybe I should reconsider not getting an L3 or an L4...
The two supporting squad members progressed behind Shepard, taking out any she'd failed to outright destroy herself but mostly keeping the Geth units trying to take Shepard down at range off of her, either though Alenko's biotics and remarkably accurate pistol shots or Ashley's precise assault rifle shots. Alenko used the downtime between encounters to disarm the bombs they came across, ensuring the spaceport wouldn't be destroyed in the conflict.
"Lieutenant, any idea why they'd dump so many explosives here?" Williams asked, as she disarmed a nearby bomb.
"No idea Chief, I suppose they're trying to cover up the beacon for whatever reason. We'll find out once we've secured the area." replied Alenko as he fired his M-3 Predator into the torso of the Geth platform moving towards the Chief. Nodding to each other they headed further along the path the Commander had formed clearing out any stragglers she had missed.
Seeing that the others had made quick work of the Geth in the immediate vicinity, Jenkins decided to reposition and meet up with the others and ensure he wouldn't be left behind. He wanted to destroy the Geth as much as anyone after seeing what they'd done to his home but Shepard's display had been spectacular. Jenkins didn't even begin to comprehend how Shepard was able to do what she was doing but it looked phenomenal. It wasn't any wonder that people were afraid of biotics if one woman was able to carve her way through more enemies faster than a squad of regular marines. It made a stark contrast to Lieutenant Alenko's smoother, almost refined efforts to control the battlefield.
Shepard weaved through the battlefield like an dancer, charging at Geth platforms before they could raise their guns and blasting clusters of them with nova blasts. She kept an eye on her six to make sure her squad stayed close but she continued to push forward, blazing a path for the others to work with. Charge. Nova. Pull. Charge. Shotgun. Charge. Shotgun. She danced around and between the Geth units with a grace and calm that belied her brutally and relentless onslaught. It was only when the last Geth platforms fell that Shepard allowed herself to give in to the strain that had been building up from the constant overuse of her biotics.
Too much too soon. I should've pushed as a team. Probably shouldn't have charged as much as I did. Shit! My implant is burning. Chakwas is going to throw a fit. Drifting into a hazy state while her body was coming down from all the adrenaline pumping through her system, she failed to notice the Geth unit stand up and start a ragged limp towards her. Alenko and Williams were busy disarming the last of the bombs. All Jenkins saw when he rounded on a crate was a banged up Geth slowly making its way towards Shepard. Shepard looked out of it, maybe exhaustion or she'd taken a hit but she seemed to have no idea that a Geth unit had managed to climb back to it's feel and was headed in her direction.
With the Geth between himself and the Commander, Jenkins didn't feel confident with his shaky aim and he simply went with the first thing that came to mind. "Commander, MOVE!" yelled Jenkins as he dove at the Geth. The other three spun around to see Jenkins hurl his body at the Geth unit and bring it down in a loud crash. Shepard jumped to her feet with a readied shotgun and edged towards the jumbled mass of metal and flesh.
"Jenkins, you okay?" Shepard asked, a hint trepidation in her voice. She'd let her guard down, she'd assume the enemy had been finished without checking. Worse still there Jenkins hadn't replied with anything more than a faint grunt. Jenkins appeared to have tackled the Geth unit as it turned to react, an act which caused the Geth to jam what remained of it's arm into Jenkins already damaged ribs and collapsed onto his legs. Hearing no reply, Shepard hit the code to contact the medbay. "Doc, how are Jenkins' vitals?"
"Did you throw him about again Shepard? His ribs just flared up and his vitals indicate that his right lung looks torn. He's also going to need surgery on his left leg. Whatever you've done has really done a number on him." Chakwas continued to run through her analysis over the comms.
"Not helping Doc, is there anything we can do for him here?"
"Not unless you have a sterile surgical suite, no. Keep him stable and do not move him. If he starts to lose conciousness then give him adrenaline. Applying medigel won't help here, his injuries are fairly severe not the scratches you usually try to patch up. Speaking of, you need some medigel on that abdominal flesh wound. It's not serious but it will hold until you're back so that I can stitch and seal it properly. Alenko is fine. We're also going to have words about overdoing your biotics when things quiet down."
Just great. "Understood Doc, holding position at our location. Shepard out" Shepard quickly changed the frequency to contact the Bridge "Ground team to Bridge, beacon secured. We're at the spaceport, send in the marines to secure the area."
"We can see, Shepard. It also looks like the Geth are leaving. Once that other ship took off the Geth started to pull out. The city is secure, the civilians were mostly safe in bunkers, at least the colonists here took precautions. It looks like the Marines did their jobs. We're two minutes out, hold position until we arrive. Normandy out."
While Shepard had been contacting the Normandy to call for an evac, Alenko had gone to take a look at the beacon they'd secured. It looked unusual, a low sloping base but with a distinctly Prothean design. Kaidan had never had the chance to see Prothean technology up close with most technology being closely guarded by the race who discovered it and restricted by the Council. This is incredible and we found a whole archive full of these on Mars? I wonder wha- oh... shit! Without even knowingly doing anything the beacon seemed to activate and draw him in.
Shepard and Williams had just seen to Jenkins when Alenko started to be dragged towards the beacon and looked like he was trying to resist the effects. Instinctively throwing herself at Alenko to knock him out of the pull. The unfortunate side effect was that she herself became had been yanked up as the beacon began to activate. Alenko had just scrambled to his feet just as Williams dragged him back.
"Lieutenant stay back, it's started up! We don't know what'll happen if we try and move her!" yelled Williams
"But what if leaving her is even worse, Chief? It's my fault she's in trouble!"
"We don't know. It's too dangerous to risk it."
He didn't like it but the Chief had a point. He didn't think that the Protheans would create a device that would create a device that would harm it's user but then what did we really know about the Protheans? Maybe it was designed to only work for Protheans and anyone else would have problems? I'm so sorry Commander, this is all my fault. All the squad could do was wait for the Normandy to land, hopefully everything would be okay.
Death. Destruction. Machines. Eradication. Warning. Secret. Hidden. The message played through Shepard's mind causing an unnatural searing sensation, almost as if the message was being burned directly into her brain. After a few moments Shepard was thrown away by the blast of the exploding beacon and hurled towards the pair causing Alenko to futilely try to cushion the Commander's fall. Whether it was the beacon or the impact which knocked Shepard unconscious no one could tell, but Shepard was out cold when the others reached her body. The Normandy couldn't come soon enough for the others, this mission had gone from terrible to catastrophic.
Saren's Dreadnought
A lone figure adorned in an elegant black dress approached the brooding Captain of the ship.
"We have the files on the Human leading the recovery squad. A certain Commander Shepard, someone of a hero figure within the Alliance. It would appear that she managed to overcome the Geth left to defend the beacon and saved the colony."
"Do they have the beacon?"
"No. According to reports the beacon exploded but only after the Commander interfaced with it."
{YOU HAVE FAILED ME, HERALD!} Immense pain emanated from the voice.
I did what you demanded. The Geth are your minions, not mine, and they failed.
{My word is final! You were entrusted to destroy the beacon and FAILED!} The voice sent another wave of pain through Saren's body.
{End them, before they ruin everything!}
ARGHH! STOP! It took Saren a few moments to shake free from the agony and stride over to the one who had brought him the message, grasping the figure's face and throat.
"Eliminate the Human. Leave no evidence. She must not be allowed to interfere with the plan again. Your daughter has insights we require, bring her to me."
Little Wing... I... I'm so sorry... "As you command, Saren."
AN: As you've picked up by now I'm using italics and brackets to separate inner and outer dialogues. I'll also be using the same format that Saren/Sovereign use for Meld communications later on. If it's hard to follow, I'd appreciate any different ideas. Also, am I overdoing the inner dialogues?
